Re: get rid of power steering (JonnyPhenomenon)

I just posted this in Scirocco Manifesto's cheap performance thread. It may be useful to somebody...
Remember, 90% of these intake mods only increace throttle response, not horsepower.
This goes for all throttle bodies, weber, mk2, audi, neuspeed, all that. Sure, they'll flow slightly more, but that doesn't matter because the engine can't use that extra air till you do other mods.... The Weber throttle body has INSANELY quick throttle response - it makes the gas pedal seem on/off - so there's no control anymore- makes the car very hard to drive. Our cars have two plate throttle bodies for a reason - to give them a more civilized ride and even throttle response.
Best cheap performance - change the exhaust manifold from the toilet bowl to a dual downpipe from an older car. A header is better, but it's also louder and more prone to crack.
Next? Exhaust. A Catback from TT is nice and cheap. You can get it with a resonator to make the car quiet as stock while being free-flowing. A Dynomax muffler is loud, and will fail quickly. A borla sounds great, restrained, and will last your lifetime.
Ignition is where some real power is. first step is to get a knock sensing igniton from a newer car and retrofit it in your car. at the same time, get a new cap and rotor, and new plug wires.
Pistons!! Nobody seems to know about this one - the JH naturally has very low compression. It's like 8.3:1 - which is great for a turbo car, or just running regular gas. Get pistons from an A2 8v GTI like the RD engine code. They are the same piston with smaller combustion chambers to give you 10:1 compression. You can often get a whole 8v engine for dirt, take the pistons, hone your cylinders real quick and swap em in with new bearings in a day with a headgasket change. This one is scarier for new people because it involves tearing the engine in half.
A Cam is next. Cams can be had new for $100. You can get a g-grind for some euro-performance that's drivable on the street. You can get even more extreme than that too - but the more cam you have, the crappier the idle will be, and the cam might even open the valves enough to hit the pistons in the event of timing belt failure. (8vs are non-interference engines, unless you have a cam with high lift)
Now, go ahead and do the intake, use a Fox maniflold - it has longer and larger runners, and can fit the larger throttle body. In fact, use the fox's existing throttle body - it's just as big as the Audi 5000 or Neuspeed one, and it comes with the correct linkage already on it. I'm not sure an ABD intake tube will benefit you much, but a new lower airbox will. The largest restriction will still be the CIS airflow meter, and there's not much you can do about that with CIS.
No replacement for displacment. Get a 2.0. You can get an Audi 3A from a late 80s Audi, 9A 16v block from a Mk2 or Passat, or an ABA from a Mk3. You can bolt the JH head right onto these, or keep the crossflow head from the Mk3. The ABA block is 15mm taller, so you need a different downpipe. The Audi 3A uses a slightly different head design with the injectors in the manifold instead of the head. It flows much better, but there was only an EFI version sold in europe. So the 3A head should be considered CIS-only (unless you are Mtl-Marc)
Next up? You've done everything cheap now. Time for Fueling. Digifant swap. Digifant however, is not very reliable, and since you now have cams, exhausts, and all that - it's not gonna do much. Megasquirt. You use all Digifant parts - the fuel rail, filter, lines, spark distributor (or use a knock sensor distributor if ya have that - it's the same one) and you can use the sensors. GM sensors for coolant and intake temp are more reliable than VW sensors - that's what I use. Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT need a TPS throttle body for megasquirt. Megasquirt can use manifold pressure readings to do accelration enrichment (adds more gas when you hit the pedal to give a better response)
What's next? Well, if you have 10:1 pistons, then the next step is ITBs (individual throttle bodies). This is easier with a crossflow head from a Mk3, and it just bolts right on. This is pretty much the pinnacle of naturally asperated 8v performance. Add NOS or alcohol or whatever, but that's it.
If you have the 8:1 pistons, time to go turbo - there's manifolds out there for the 8v. One meant for a mk3 fits a mk1 fine. I don't know how much boost an 8v can take, somebody else can chime in. Or, you can supercharge it like a G60 - that engine was a 1.8L and it had 160hp stock! Just don't use a G60 charger because they were extremly unreliable and expensive to fix. Eaton makes a good charger, and there are also those turbo-compressor style ones. This will require custom brackets to be made.

Quote, originally posted by Beakersloco &raquo;

Great post so can you post what applies to the 16V engines.

Here's the 16v version.... (bearing in mind that I've never owned a 16v)
A 16v already has the largest sized throttle body one can get, buying a Neuspeed on an audi one is actually a downgrade from here. Remember, a Weber will fit with an adapter, but it's a BAD idea if you drive your car every day.
Best cheap performance - change the downpipe to a high flow TT unit. A header is better yet, but it's also louder and more prone to crack.
Next? Exhaust. A Catback from TT is nice and cheap. You can get it with a resonator to make the car quiet as stock while being free-flowing. A Dynomax muffler is loud, and will fail quickly. A borla sounds great, restrained, and will last your lifetime. Make sure you get stainless - 16vs come with a 2" stainless with a resonator STOCK, don't downgrade!
You may be seeing ads on ebay for a 50mm intake manifold. This sounds cool because the runners are bigger - but bewere. They were on european 16vs from the factory, then VW RECALLED them in europe to replace them with the normal 16v manifold. The larger manifold caused torque loss, and pushed the power band higher up in revs.
Thinking about an autotech power module or something like that? forget it. It's a waste of money, and it introduces a MASSIVE failure point in the car's running. The way this works is to fake the ECU into making the mixture richer by providing a false input from the coolant temperature sensor.
16vs already have knock sensing ignition. Make sure everything is in working order, that the knock sensor is working, new cap and rotor, and get some new plug wires. 16v wire sets are rather expensive, so buy one that'll last.
16vs come stock with high compression 10:1 pistons. Keep them for Naturally aspirated power.
Cams are next. Cams can be had new for $300. You can get a european set for performance that's drivable on the street. You can get even more extreme than that too - but the more cam you have, the crappier the idle will be. ALL 16v engines are interference engines. When you change the cam, change the belt. And then change it every single year. If you have a large cam, consider a racing timing belt.
No replacement for displacment. Get a 2.0. 9A 16v block from a Mk2 16v or Passat. You can even make an ABF-like motor out of an ABA from a Mk3. You can bolt the 16v head right onto these. The ABA block is 15mm taller, so you need a different downpipe.
Next up? You've done everything cheap now. Time for Fueling. Megasquirt. You can use all DigifantIII parts - the fuel rail, filter and fuel pressure regulator - these come from a europe-only ABF mk3 motor. You can also use a custom machined fuel rail from Bahn Brenner, or Ross Machine Racing, or USRT. GM sensors for coolant and intake temp are more reliable than VW sensors - that's what I use. Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT need a TPS throttle body for megasquirt. In fact, I use a 16v throttle body on my 8v. Megasquirt can use manifold pressure readings to do accelration enrichment (adds more gas when you hit the pedal to give a better response)
A port and polish of the cylinder head can be good for a modded car. a 1.8L head is aparantly better for this because of the way the ports were cast. This is a machine shop service costing usually $1k or so.
What's next? Well, since you have 10:1 pistons, then the next step is ITBs (individual throttle bodies). This is pretty much the pinnacle of naturally asperated 16v performance. Add NOS or alcohol or whatever, but that's it. You can stroke and bore the motor past 2.0L for something really crazy.
You can buy low compression pistons, or stack metal headgaskets to go turbo - there's turbo manifolds out there for the 16v. Or, you can supercharge with a turbo-compressor type of super charger, like mr lee has on his 16v, or get a eaton kit from Bahn Brenner. An upgrade for a forced induction car is a short-ram intake manifold to replace the stock one. Turbo cars need power at the top end, short and fat runners help this out. The bigger the intercooler, the better you will be.
A fully fueled, bored, stroked, ported, polished, camed, blueprinted, tuned and worked up turbo 16v can have more than 500whp.
Remember, I'm only posting about POWER upgrades. There are more upgrades to be done, such as suspension, brakes, lighting, instrumentation, controls, drivtrain and transmission, and MOST importantly of all TIRES

Re: FAQ THREAD FOR SCIROCCOS (timbo2132)

The relay numbered 24 according to the Bentley Manual is "Cold start enrichment(July 87 to 89 except 16v)"
and on the opposite side with the Green and tan circle is "Coolant low-level warning control unit / Idle boost control unit (July 87 - 89 except 16v)"
And the FUSE position 17 shown with a 10 amp fuse is OPEN, it is for the "knock sensor control unit (16v only)"

The entire tool selection at Sears or the contents of a Snap-On truck will do you no good if you do not know how to use them.

Re: get rid of power steering (RoccoRacer)

mkII euro high beam info. 3 different lenses!http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?1916472
so we have 3 different lenses
the 4 adjuster lens 34459R8
and two 3 adjuster lenses. sounds like the difference between the 3 adjuster 8367R19 and 8368R19 is the addition of a reflector over the front of the bulb. which looks like can be removed.
and they are definitly left and right specific.

Re: (timbo2132)

8v non-A/C alternator brackets (the old stock brackets in my car)
If you have an 84.5 or later, the lower bracket should be present, but the compressor bracket will be bolted to it.
Pulley for the waterpump is different. It can be gotten from any fox - even a fox with A/C. It can also be found on some Audi cars.
Upper bracket

Re: (scirocco*joe)

thats easy. just replace it. they cost under 10$.
if you squease the little boot covering it and ti goes squish, then you need to replace it.
to replace them, they just screw in like a plug. easy to get to, easy to replace. easy peasy. [IMG]http://**********************/smile/emthup.gif[/IMG]

Re: (JonnyPhenomenon)

Sloppy shifter?
probably need to replace the main shift rod bushing, but since these are basically no longer available, you can get an after market replacement part that is about a million times better from here.http://www.4crawler.com/Diesel...aring
there is also a guy who sells a hybrid bushing on ebay that is made from a mk3 bushing with a delrin insert inside of it. thats what I have and it rules.

just wondering if outer sills are still available from anywhere??just bought a 78 and the sills are missing, haha,
and i cant find anything about stripping a vw gearbox?
have boxes from a mk2 rocco and mk2 golf i need to get shifting nice again...
if anyone could point me the right direction id appreciate it.
cheers

Re: (veedubcorolla)

and if you are looking for replacement parts, set up an account at http://www.vagcat.com where you can get exploded diagrams and part numbers of everything VW.
(or just login with my account, vwvortex/vwvortex )
then take those part numbers to http://www.worldimpex.com where you can get prices and availability of them.
but for really old stuff, your best bet might be the salvage yards..

^ but it would be so very helpful if they were...
for instance 1, 2, and 3. esp 2 and 3.
what are the most likely maintenance problems? ive already gatheres there are struggles with the fuel pump, im told 16vs tend to run hot, the hatches leak and stuff like that.
first upgrades? - there are a few performance faqs but what are a few key weaknesses that are quickly and easily adressed to yeild an efficiently running slightly more powerful, better handling car? say first three upgrades and what to avoid specifically (heard mixed reviews about power modules)

Re: (broomhandle)

I believe the topics listed that are not links were included in the list to prompt others to provide information on those subjects wherever they could.
And so: I have written another DIY to help troubleshoot shifting issues.
Phenoms Howtos : Shift linkage troubleshooting guidehttp://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?4737208

Re: (fredybender)

just thought I would add a couple pictures I took of my rocco cluster the other day. the plastic circuit board on the back of the cluster has some print on it around the plugs that you cant really see unless you take them off.